1877 



Gl.EANrXCJS IN BEE CULTURE. 



247 



BUTTON BUSH. 



I enclose (lower and leaf of a shrub, loiind tn this 

 •vicinitj-, growing hi marsliy places. It blooins early 

 4n July, lasts two or ttiree weeks, blossoms arc white, 

 •very fragrant, an<l engage the attention ot bees more 

 fully than bass w«o«l in lull bloom only a lew roils 

 ■distant. Not knowing the name of the plant or its 

 value as ahonev piwlucer, I send ywi this sample. 



J. B. IlAiNS, Bedford, <).. July «», lti77. 



The plant is the Veph<thnithu^ Occklentaiis, or But- 

 ton Bush. It blooms same time as our Lindens, and 

 •8 visiteii freely by bees. " A. J. Cook. 



Lansing, Mich., July 26, 1877. 



I am using Gould's Common Sense hive; the frames 

 are SJ^xlO*^'. I have about fiO colonies at work, but do 

 ■not succeed well in extracting the honey; the combs 

 1>reak badly. Have paid Gillispie SIO tor a farm right. 

 Has he any patent right on a double section or mova- 

 i)Ie frame hive ? VVoodavaki> & Wilmfoku. 



Sylvan, Tus. Co., Ala., July '23, 1877. 



Gillispie is a most notorious swindler, as 

 you will see by consulting our back Nos., and 

 the $10 you have paid hira is but a small part 

 of your loss, if you have really put bees into 

 Siives with frames as small as the size you 

 mention. 



SUMAC. 



Fdn. works to a charm; wc had only 10 days 

 f>{ honey yield while the sumac was in bloom. June 

 a.'ith to*25t"h. No swarms. Have divided only 2. All 

 but the very strong stands getting less honey than 

 they consnnie. yet we still hope for a big yield of 

 honev. Abnek Allen, St. George, Has., July "23. 



Mv method of introducing queens is to take out 

 airthe combs, start the honey running pretty freely, 

 (irov> my queen into the hive, shake off a majority of 

 the bees in front of the hive, put back the combs and 

 the job is dene. I have never lost a queen in that 

 v\ ay", and have tried it some 20 times. 1 told one of 

 ^iiy' neighbors who has kept bees 7 or 8 years, and he 

 .says be has never lest one in that way. 1 have taken 

 ;iway -I laying queens this summer and introduced vir- 

 $<in queens in lu minutes, without loss; I smoke them 

 a little when the Irames are all back. 



I (being but a very young Novice in bee-keepingl 

 with i/o« would try the experiment, and if good lor 

 anything give it to the public. If it will work with a 

 ^ond strong nucleus it will work anvwhere. 



W. P. Dakkon, Jefferson, Mich., July 12, IS". 



Disturbing the bees, and causing them to 

 liil themselves with honey, will usually make 

 them peaceable to a queen, but not always. 

 Your success only verities what we stated last 

 month, that queens would be received all right 

 without any introducing, in a majority of 

 cases. 



The following illustrates so well the troub- 

 les and trials of both purchasers and produ- 

 cers in the bee business, and is so extremely 

 lifelike, especially in the success that crowned 

 the efforts of both at last, that we give it 

 entire. 



I sent to Parker, of Goldsboro, X. C. for a queen; 

 the cage came through with some bees in ii but no 

 queen. I sent the cage back to him just as I received 

 it, stating the case to liim and he sent me another 

 Mueen by return mail. She was a beauty, clean and 

 bright. I took the black queen out, bung the cage 

 containing the (jueen in the hive over night, took out 

 one comb of honey and turned her loose on it; slie 

 made seme kind of a squeaking noise and every bee 

 on the rack fluttered its wings and ran around as fast 

 as It could. She crawled down among them, when 

 they oeean to sting her. I caught hold of her, and 

 one of them stung me on the linger. I think they 

 would have killed her in a few minutes if 1 liad left 

 them alone; I put her back in the cage and left it in 

 the hive twenty-four iiours longer, when I took the 

 <uige out, closed the hive, and turned her loose in the 

 mouth of the Live. She crawled in all right, and the 

 third day I found her all right and laying eggs. I 

 have sent to Parker for one more; if they ))rove pure 

 lie will get several orders from me. W.G. Ckaig. 



Clearmont, Mo., July 25, 1S77. 



Does it make any differen<-e whether frames run 

 from side to side or irom Iront to rear!-' liax Mr. 

 Mitchell a patent l»ive ? He sold some in our county 

 and gavv instructions by wliich a great many bees 

 have b«.M>n kille<l during these last two years. The 

 tjueens which I got from Mr. Hale of Wirt V. H., W. 

 \'a., are all pure I think ; he sells what you want and 

 is lair in d'.'allng; wouhl recommend him to others 

 who want early queens. Nal. I). I'KICU. 



Myerstown, Pa., Maich 20, 1877. 



I cannot discover that it makes any differ- 

 ence at all, which way the frames run, and I 

 have carefully examinedthe workings of hives 

 of both kinds. Mitchell has a knack of tak- 

 ing people's money without rendering any fair 

 equivalent, but I had not before heard that his 

 teachings resulted in the death of the bees. 



Our bees have done well. \Ve have 10 bbls. that 

 hold over 40 gals, each, and another bbl. full yet in 

 the hives, all nice white clover honey. We extracted 

 from 58 hives. J. L. WOLFENDON. 



Adams, Wis., July 21, 1877. 



Last year my bees did no good at all, but now they 

 are giving me all J can do to keep the honey out of 

 their way. I have never seen new honey so thick. 

 It is with difficulty that we can extract it at all. It is 

 gathered Irom honey dew, which is more abundant 

 than I have ever seen it. Why is the iioney so thick, 

 or is it coinmon when gathered Irom this source ? 



I have about loO colonies, most of them Italians and 

 hybrids. Am pretty well satislied that the halt breeds 

 are the best honey gatherers. W. t\ Lewis. 



Baldwyn, Miss., May 31, 1877. 



The extractor which you shipped me on the ICth 

 inst. came to hand all right, two days later. It worked 

 like a charm, and I am much pleased with it. I have 

 7 swarms of bees. Lindeu has just commenced blos- 

 soming, and I have extracted as follows: 

 July 13th 60 lbs. 



'• 17th 35 " 



" 18th 50 " 



Total 145 " 

 More than twice enough to pay for the extractor. 

 Enclosed please find SI ; 25c. is due you on the ex- 

 tractor, and 75c. is to induce the "machine" that mails 

 Gleanings to remember me once a month the bal- 

 ance of thu year. W. Z. Hutchinson. 

 Rogersville, Mich., July 19, 1877. 



I lost 5 hives out of 1(1 of black bees last winter, but 

 none of 17 hives of Italians. I don't refer this to any 

 hardine?s of the latter but to their greater fertility. 

 I think I have tbe best stock of Itallars in America. 

 I have taken over 1,200 lbs. of white clover honey this 

 vear, and have had 14 swarms ol Italians, but not one 

 of blacks. Some of my neighbors lost half their 

 black bees. J. H- Onev. 



Dixon'^ Springs, Tenn., June 16. 1877. 



I hope to have a favorable report to make this fall. 

 Last fall I had increased from 12 to 31, and got a little 

 over six hundred lbs. of honey, mostly comb. I ex- 

 perimented with some by. using sections without any 

 honev board, and succeeded so well that I shall do 

 avvav with honey boards altogether, although I was 

 using one but 4 of an inch thick, with 4 2.inch holes 

 in it. H. A. Palmer, Madora, la., April 4, 1877. 



Honey boards are so much a thing of the 

 past, that I believe they are scarcely known 

 now, in our modern apiaries. 



And now, friend Novice. I come with my discovery. 

 Sometimes, alter we have hived bees, they take a no- 

 tion to leave us the empty hive. Now, say we are 

 within 50 yards of the hive when they commence to 

 come out, "all that is to be done is to throw a cloth 

 over the hive or stop it up, and the bees are saved. 

 One-half of the swarm may be out. but it confuses 

 them so that they seem to become bewildered, and 

 settle as when flist swarmed. I told one of my bee- 

 keeping l'rien<ls about it, and he says he has saved 

 some bees by it; in fact, has not lost any since, i 

 have failed in one or two instances in saving all the 

 bees when I was late getting to the hive, but never 

 liave lost a whole colony sir.ce I commenced the prac- 

 tice, and til is is the second season. A. T. Doyle. 



Darksville, Mo., July 3, 1877. 



